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Posted: Tuesday, 17 November 2009 10:35AM
New Web site tracks concealed weapons incidents
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence pointis to statistics compiled on a new Web site to argue that the state's prohibition against carrying concealed handguns in public saves lives and protects law enforcement.
According to a new Violence Policy Center Web site -- www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm -- concealed handgun permit holders killed eight law enforcement officers and 77 private citizens (including 10 who killed themselves) from May 2007 through October 2009, a release from ICHV and VPC said.
Illinois and Wisconsin are the only states to prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns by private citizens. But both states have been targeted by the gun lobby to repeal their prohibitions.
Illinois gun violence prevention advocates say the prohibition has saved lives and should be a model for other governors and legislatures.
“Clearly, Illinois law enforcement officials and state residents are much safer by not having a dangerous carrying concealed handgun law,” Thom Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said in the release.
“When you look at the troubling incidents of concealed handgun permit holders murdering police officers and other citizens, you have to ask, how in the world can elected officials permit such risks to community safety?” he said.
The web site offers detailed descriptions of the 46 incidents in 18 states. Of these, 10 were murder-suicides involving firearms and eight were mass shootings (three or more victims) that claimed as many as 11 lives at a time. Law enforcement officers were killed in Florida (two), Idaho, Ohio and Pennsylvania (two), all with guns.
Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, said in the release, "This new Web site makes clear that contrary to the false promises of the gun lobby, the simple and deadly fact is that state concealed handgun systems are arming cop-killers, mass shooters and other murderers."
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Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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